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Asian Civilisations Museum

Concierge.com's insider take:

Singapore's confluence of Chinese, Indian, and Malay cultures makes it the ideal place to learn about these civilizations and their historic interactions, and this museum near the mouth of the Singapore River is the best place to start. Occupying a noble Palladian pile, the museum has 11 exhibit halls filled with more than 1,300 superb works of art, rare antiques, and cultural artifacts illuminating such subjects as Singapore's maritime history and the impact of Hinduism and Buddhism on the nation's culture. There are temporary exhibits—on, say, Singaporean mosques or Chinese brush painting—and an ongoing series of lectures by international scholars. A second outpost—located in the restored Tao Nan School, built in 1910—focuses on Peranakan culture, the unique outgrowth of unions between Chinese settlers and local Malay women (39 Armenian St.; 65-6332-7591; peranakanmuseum.sg).